Posts Tagged 'love'

I’m PROUD of who I am. Proud of my roots, my culture, my choices. Being a Filipina and growing up with the ideals that I have. Honoring the opportunity to influence young students and instill some knowledge in their media-centric brains (by which, I mean that they focus too much on various media to the point that it shapes who they are)… For the first time in a long while, I can truly say that I LOVE myself.

Tonight Shamcey Supsup boosted my pride as a Filipino because she had a smart answer in the Q&A portion of Ms. Universe. She couldn’t please everyone with her answer (some people over-analyzed it) but she said it so well–she was articulate and sincere. She had conviction. She didn’t masquerade herself with an answer that everyone expects at contests like these; she stayed true to herself, something I admire even more than her artistic and academic skills. In an interview after the show, she said that maybe now, after her victory, people will treat her differently because she achieved something big, but her personality won’t change. She will still stay the same person she’s always been. I don’t know why this struck me so much, but I respect her for saying that. I believe in it; I won’t change for anything either, because I am ME, and I SHOULD be happy with who I am.

That the Ms. Universe show made me realize all this just goes to show that beauty contests per se are not wrong in that they promote a certain image of beauty. You actually learn a lot by watching it, like the politics of it and the different countries in the world (which can even get you thinking why there are some well-known countries that are not part of the event). It makes you analyze/examine/reflect on your lack of/presence of nationalism. It makes you THINK, in short. And for me, tonight, it made me whole as a person. As a woman. Because Shamcey, if not all the contestants, reminded me that I AM A WOMAN, an intelligent human being capable of doing some good in the world with what I know and with what others don’t know. I AM A WOMAN and I have beliefs, principles, and perspectives of different things that may affect how things run. I am a WOMAN and I am powerful.

I am happy with who I am–happy and wise enough to know that if I truly love myself, what others think of me should not matter. I am who I am and I don’t need to please other people. Likewise, it doesn’t matter if others surpass me in skill, intelligence, kindness, etc. as long as I respect and love myself and just do the best I can in the world.

I am so proud of myself, because I finally learned to love myself. It’s something we should all learn to do and shout out loud: I LOVE MYSELF!!!